New Hampshire Lawmakers Advance Psilocybin Penalty Reform But Reject Medical Marijuana Homegrow
From toxifillers.com with love
As lawmakers in New Hampshire work to reconcile different versions of bills passed by the House and Senate this session, one conference committee on Wednesday agreed to move forward with a plan to reduce penalties for psilocybin possession while a separate panel rejected a proposal to allow medical marijuana patients to grow cannabis at home.
Both proposals had support from House lawmakers, but—with the exception of the newly advancing psilocybin provision—the Senate has broadly stood in the way of drug reform measures.
Regarding psilocybin, members of a bicameral conference committee voted to advance a compromise version of SB 14, which contains both mandatory minimum sentences around fentanyl as well as the lower penalty for possessing the psychedelic.
As passed by the Senate, the bill would have established mandatory minimum sentences for certain fentanyl offenses. But a House committee last month added language to reduce the penalty for psilocybin, making it a misdemeanor rather than a felony to possess up to 3/4 of an ounce of the psychedelic—at least on the first offense.
One member of the conference committee, Sen. Daryl Abbas (R), emphasized that the reform would apply to first psilocybin possession offenses only.
“Any subsequent offense after the first would still be a felony offense,” he said at Wednesday’s hearing.
Abbas added that the first possession penalty would be an unclassified misdemeanor, meaning prosecutors would have discretion to charge the conduct as either a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, the latter of which does not include jail time.
The measure does not go as far as a separate standalone psilocybin decriminalization bill—HB 528, from Rep. Kevin Verville (R), which would have made a first offense a $100 violation—but it would still end the state’s felony law against simple possession.
The Senate earlier this session rejected Verville’s broader psilocybin decriminalization proposal after passage by the House, but he and others have held out hope for more moderate reform in SB 14.
“We’re not decriminalizing anything,” Verville said Wednesday at the conference committee hearing. “On the psilocybin side, all we are doing is some penalty reform for a first offense.”
He called psilocybin “essentially non-toxic,” saying the average person would need to eat more than 20 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms to risk a lethal dose. “The other thing is, psilocybin is not habit forming. It is not addictive.”
Verville said after House passage of the revised bill earlier this month that while he isn’t a fan of mandatory minimum sentences, SB 14’s proposed penalties around fentanyl “are fairly short sentences for felony crimes,” describing the overall bill as “an excellent trade that is for the greater benefit of the citizens of New Hampshire.”
The proposed fentanyl penalties would affect manufacturing, selling, transporting or possession with the intent to sell. Those activities involving 20 or more grams would carry a 3 1/2 year mandatory minimum prison sentence, while 50 or more grams would mean at least seven years behind bars.
Earlier this week, it briefly appeared the conference committee had given up on the fentanyl and psilocybin bill. Members on Monday declined to move forward with the compromise.
“Unfortunately, the Senate position on psilocybin was clear earlier this year, and we are not going to agree to that part of the bill,” committee member Sen. Bill Gannon (R) told lawmakers on the House side, “which I think kills it for you guys.”
“Hate to waste your time here,” Gannon added at the time, noting that he appreciated the work Rep. Terry Roy (R) had put into the legislation regarding mandatory minimums on fentanyl.
“You know what? That’s OK,” Roy replied. “We’ll be back in the fall and we can look at it again.”
Since that hearing, however, legislative leaders replaced some members of the panel, which appears to have sped a resolution.
The revised SB 14 now proceeds to both legislative chambers for approval before potentially heading to Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R).
As for home cultivation of medical marijuana by patients and caregivers, a separate conference committee that heard SB 118—which primarily deals with nursing homes in the state—voted earlier Wednesday to move forward with a version of the bill that does not contain the cannabis provision added by the House.
“The House conferees have discussed this, and at least three out of the four of us have decided to accede to the Senate position and support the removal of the cannabis [provision] from SB 118 and leave the rest of the bill intact,” said Rep. Wayne MacDonald (R), a member of the panel and chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee.
—
Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—
Rep. Laura Telerski (D), who last week replaced an earlier House member of the panel, expressed disappointment at the move and said she would ask to be replaced on the conference committee.
“I was a part of this committee to hopefully have discussion and defend the House position, which included the therapeutic home growth for cannabis,” she said, adding that home cultivation would expand accessibility and reduce costs for patients. “Unfortunately, I will not be able to support the agreement by this committee, and I will be requesting to be replaced.”
Other members of the conference committee moved ahead with the modified proposal, accepting a House compromise plan minus the cannabis homegrow provision. The agreement will now go to both legislative chambers for their approval.
SB 118 didn’t originally contain the cannabis language, but earlier in the session—following the Senate’s tabling of HB 53, a separate homegrow bill that senators had previously tabled—a House committee had amended the bill to add language from the standalone bill.
So far this session, the Senate has been broadly hostile to drug reform proposals. While a number of bills have cleared the House of Representatives—including a renewed effort to legalize adult-use marijuana—nearly all have gone on to die in the Senate.
“These outcomes are disappointing, but unfortunately, they aren’t surprising,” Matt Simon, director of public and government relations at the medical marijuana provider GraniteLeaf Cannabis, told Marijuana Moment last month.
Earlier in the year, Simon said it appeared “that a few senators just want to kill every bill that deals with cannabis policy, no matter how modest and non-controversial”—an observation that’s largely held true.
As for broader cannabis legalization, the Senate in early May narrowly voted to table a House-passed marijuana legalization bill, effectively ending this year’s effort to end cannabis prohibition in the “Live Free or Die” state.
The chamber voted 12–10 to table the measure, HB 198, from Rep. Jared Sullivan (D). It had previously passed the House of Representatives in March, but weeks later the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended the proposal be rejected.
If enacted, the bill would have legalized noncommercial possession and use of marijuana among adults 21 and older, permitting adults to have up to two ounces of marijuana flower, 10 grams of concentrate and up to 2,000 milligrams of THC in other cannabis products.
Sullivan’s proposal was a pared-down version of a legalization measure lawmakers nearly passed last year, under then-Gov. Chris Sununu (R), but it did not include that bill’s regulated commercial system—a controversial issue that ultimately derailed the earlier effort.
Recent state polling suggests New Hampshire residents strongly favor cannabis legalization. In late April, a Granite State Poll, from the University of New Hampshire’s States of Opinion Project, found 70 percent support for the reform, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents.
“Support for legalization has increased slightly since June 2024 (65%) and remains considerably higher than in the mid-2010s,” it added. “Majorities of Democrats (84%), independents (72%), and Republicans (55%) support legalizing marijuana for personal use.”
Last legislative session, New Hampshire lawmakers nearly passed a bill that would have legalized and regulated marijuana for adults—a proposal that then-Gov. Chris Sununu (R) had indicated he’d support. But infighting over how the market would be set up ultimately scuttled that measure. House Democrats narrowly voted to table it at the last minute, taking issue with the proposal’s state-controlled franchise model, which would have given the state unprecedented sway over retail stores and consumer prices.
Trump’s VA Head Visits Psychedelics Research Center, Reiterating ‘Promise’ To Explore Benefits For Military Veterans
Image element courtesy of Kristie Gianopulos.
The post New Hampshire Lawmakers Advance Psilocybin Penalty Reform But Reject Medical Marijuana Homegrow appeared first on Marijuana Moment.